DOCTOR WHO 60th Anniversary Specials – One Who Two Who Old Who New Who

It’s 2023, and somehow, the mouse is now streaming DOCTOR WHO. Ever since we got the breadcrumbs that David Tennant would return in time for the 60th anniversary, boy, we were speculating up a storm. How is he returning? Who’s he going to be filming with? How much wibbly wobbly storytelling will there be after Chibnall’s Swiss cheese storytelling, not even a solid block more like string cheese!

Jodie Whitaker announces that she is hanging up her massive trenchcoat, and Ncuti Gatwa is announced as the 14th doctor. The Flux storyline comes to an end and ………………….”I know those teeth”

The Plot Twist NO ONE Saw Coming!!

Seriously, well done to the internet for keeping this one under wraps and the BBC too! This is probably one of the few times I don’t mind a good old-fashioned “bait and switch” with 10 as the new 14! The Whovians let out a boisterous refrain that can be heard from the constellation of Kasterborous.

Next, we find out Catherine Tate is reprising her role as the Donna Noble. (COULD THIS GET ANY BETTER?!?!) and to top it off the one and only Neil Patrick Harris comes all the way across the pond playing the Mercurial Toy Maker. That character itself is a huge call back to the First Doctor.

But WHY him as WHO?!

I have several opinions as to why we had this sharp turn

• Getting viewership back: Most folks would say, “When they made The Doctor a girl,” the numbers dropped. Yes, that was one thing, but it wasn’t because of Jodie’s acting. You can’t have a good show if there isn’t a decent story. Honestly, and this isn’t taking away from Peter Capaldi, but the tonal shift we got once Bill joined fell extremely flat. The Covid combined with shorter and shorter seasons didn’t help either.
• After Matt Smith put on his bow tie, episode counts dropped, and splitting it up that half a season in the early fall with a blue box ball relieving Christmas episode and climax in the spring was also like a gut punch.
• “Well, that’s all right then”: The companions for most modern who have all had happy endings. Rose got Metacrisis Dr., Martha, and Micket got married. Amy got to live out her life with Rory, Clara lives in a Cosmic Diner, River saw the sunsets, Bill is now Glass….. But Donna, Donna was a hard one to swallow! Yes, she did have a dream wedding and a child, won the lottery, and still held the title of fastest temp in Chiswick. But what is that worth if you don’t have the memories or, more importantly, who you shared them with?
• A different kind of Companion: Going back to that point, Catherine Tate was the oldest companion ever. So we did not need to have as many damsel in distress moments. As a grown woman, she stood on her own two feet and didn’t need to be a doe-eyed quasi-love interest. Just being mates is why the dynamic between 10 and Donna is what’s most memorable.

Having all that listed is some of the compounding reasons going with the shock and awe of writing Tennant and Tate back into the show was the PERFECT carrot on a stick to bring us back around!

With the smart workaround, using Rose as the Metacrisis scapegoat gave Donna and The Doctor the nicely bowtied happy ending.

4 Hearts, 3 Episodes, 2 Doctors, and now Series 1?!

Yes, with the 15th Doctor played by Ncuti Gatwa, we are getting a soft reboot, per se. 14 is off being as human as possible, much like how 3 was relegated to Earth during most of his tenure. But 15 is off galavanting across space and time.

I have no doubt that Ncuti will add to The Doctor’s legacy, leaving his mark on the character while he is off with his new companion. Where does that leave the Retireree Doctor?

An excellent theory I can get behind is that 14 will become The Curator. Tom Baker returned and nodded that The Doctor might return to a few old faces. Was this his own self-fulfilling prophecy? How we are going to deal with having a second doctor is going to be thick like the middle of a Jammie Dodger.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m content to have content! But we are going to have to tread carefully for a bit here. Davies has to backpedal the whole timeless child, and knowing The Master is still around is a golden opportunity. I’m hoping we get Sacha Dhawan to return.

At the end of the day, I’m happy to get some good old serialized Doctor Who. I hope we can take a step back from the massive production value and give me more episodes. Davies can write. Let him write and give me longer seasons.

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